Chapter 83: The Great Magic Library (1)
“The main theme of the fifth floor is ‘escape,’” a male player began.
“Escape? Does that mean we start off trapped somewhere?”
“Yes. Due to the loss of past videos and records, there’s not much information left. However, we could reconstruct up to the eighth floor based on the memories of players who played in the Tower of Trials at that time.”
“Oh, that much?”
“Haha, it’s all thanks to the veteran players.”
“Eighth floor means veteran? That’s funny. You’d have to at least reach floor 15 to be considered a veteran.”
Lee Tae-min clicked his tongue in disbelief as he watched the TV.
“Right. But what can we do? Most people gave up before reaching the eighth floor. It’s impressive that we even managed to uncover information up to that point.”
Yoo Yeon-hwa agreed with him.
“True. If we think about our standards, the hurdle is too high for others.”
“Looking at it this way, it seems having preempted information is a significant advantage.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
The others chimed in one by one.
Pride for having experienced beyond the 15th floor could be felt on everyone’s faces.
Hmm…
Jinhyuk scratched his cheek while observing them.
‘I should keep my mouth shut here, right?’
He couldn’t possibly tell them that one would have to have reached the top of the Tower at least to be called a veteran, with everyone so proudly holding their noses so high.
After all, they were his cherished companions.
At least he shouldn’t hurt their feelings.
Especially Cheon Yuseong—he was the type to snap if teased about reaching just the 20th floor.
‘Really, I have to consider the team members’ spirits too. I must be a crazy guy.’
Jinhyuk nodded to himself just as a question was asked.
“Can you also tell us what kind of escape we need to perform?”
“The fifth floor involves selecting one of several locations critical to survival—such as a mental hospital, coliseum, mine, or desert island—and escaping from that place.”
“It doesn’t look as difficult as I thought. If we know the place in advance, we can prepare our strategy beforehand, right?”
The most important thing for escape is information.
Who will be inside.
What the terrain and features will be like.
What can be utilized, etc.
Knowing everything in advance means there are countless ways to prepare.
“Haha, it’s easy to think that way. But it’s not. The fifth floor changes locations and compositions every time, so the advantage of a second play-through fades, plus there’s a nerf that seals your magic power. It’s going to be the hardest floor to strategize for yet.”
“Magic power is sealed?”
“Yes. It seems to mean you should clear it solely with your own strength.”
Having to start in the worst condition with a changing environment and nerfs sealing unique abilities and skills was the overriding principle of this floor.
“This floor is annoying for that reason.”
“Sigh. I have to get tense for the first time in a while.”
“Ah, it’s that floor I never looked back on after clearing it once…”
Sighs emanated here and there.
Everyone would have to start from the bottom.
That must be what they were all thinking.
However, just one person.
Only Jinhyuk was smiling with ease.
He knew.
How to clear this floor as smoothly as possible.
And even what kind of preparation he needed for that.
***
The next afternoon, after stretching out lazily at the hotel to recover his fatigue, Jinhyuk laid out the rewards he had obtained by defeating Pendariel.
An ‘A-grade Random Loot Box’.
‘Advanced Skill Enhancement Scroll’.
‘Currency Exchange Fee 10% Discount Coupon’.
‘Magic Library Admission Ticket’.
These four were his haul—none of them were to be discarded, as each was a valuable item.
He was eager to check them immediately, but first, he needed to do something.
“Status window.”
He activated his personal status window.
He had to distribute the stat points he gained from leveling up.
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Level: 34
Strength 16 Agility 16 Stamina 16 Magic Power 62 Rift 100 Luck 10 Adaptive 10
Available Stat Points: 21
Available Coins: 235,341
Job: None.
Unique Abilities: Fusion, Grave of Swords, Blessing of the Stars, Judgment of Anubis, Blood Demonic Qi, Mandala
Skills: Lv6 ‘Element of Fire’, Lv4 ‘Eyes of Gluttony’, Lv3 ‘Sympathy’, Lv3 ‘Brand of Soulflame’, Lv4 ‘Venom Consumption’, Lv4 ‘Shallow Breath’, Lv5 ‘Glacial Sculpting’, Lv4 ‘Daylight’, Lv3 ‘Soul Pursuing Sword’, Lv1 ‘Double Agent’, Lv1 ‘True Taiqing Flower Knight Heart Technique’, Lv2 ‘Sword Demon Emperor Step’
In his frantic hunting, he had overlooked his status window and managed to level up a total of seven times.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Hyuk’s heart raced excitedly.
‘I thought I had grown optimally in the past…’
He was mistaken.
Now, he was growing much faster than he could have compared to before.
‘Haha. This is absurd.’
The realized Tower of Trials boasted a difficulty level different from the game, indeed.
But, more than the increased difficulty…
‘My growth rate is far bigger.’
Past experience and accumulated skills proved it.
Showing how much stronger he had become.
Savoring the pleasant exhilaration, Jinhyuk rapidly distributed the 21 accumulated stats.
[Strength increased from 16 to 19.]
[Agility increased from 16 to 19.]
[Stamina increased from 16 to 19.]
[Magic Power increased from 62 to 74.]
As always, the most important was magic power.
With a 12 stat increase all at once, the flow of magic power spreading throughout his body felt much smoother.
Good.
Now for the next…
Jinhyuk picked up the ‘Advanced Skill Enhancement Scroll’.
A coveted item that raised an above Lv10 skill by one level and a below Lv10 skill by a whopping three levels.
Considering how difficult it was to raise skill levels as one progressed, this scroll’s worth was immeasurable, beyond what money or coins could translate.
And of course, he had already thought of which skill to enhance.
‘For both the fifth floor and the future, the skill I have to develop the most is Glacial Sculpting.’
A versatile skill useful for both offensive and defensive purposes, adaptable to various situations.
If he had to pick just one, this was the clear priority.
Whirrrr!
The scroll vanished with a bright light.
Simultaneously,
[‘Glacial Sculpting’ has upgraded to Lv8.]
Shhhhhhh!
A chilling cold spread throughout the hotel room.
“What’s this? Why did it suddenly get cold? Did someone turn on the air conditioning?”
“Air conditioning in late autumn? Damn it. And this is not just air conditioning, it feels like a freezer.”
“It seems there’s an issue with the central cooling system…”
“Make sure the guests aren’t inconvenienced and fix it fast. It’ll be our heads if they catch a cold and complain!”
Unknown to Jinhyuk, the hotel staff had to scramble around for a while to find the cause.
While they were busy, Hyuk, who had just enhanced his skill, now turned his attention to a golden box placed on the bed.
The A-grade Random Loot Box.
As the name implied, it was a gacha type item allowing one to draw an A-rank item by spinning a roulette.
Whirrrr!
A giant golden roulette appeared in the room.
On the approximately 2-meter large roulette, countless items of A-rank were engraved.
‘Let’s start.’
He pulled the lever, and the roulette started to spin rapidly.
Once, twice.
Ding!
[Please press the red button in the center.]
The item gets selected when the button is pressed, enabling the usage of the chosen item.
But Jinhyuk casually folded his arms, waiting without bothering with the button, as if there was no such thing on his mind.
[The time limit has been exceeded.]
[Please spin the roulette again.]
A red status window with a warning voice appeared, suggesting that the chance might be taken away if he failed to make a choice this time.
‘Cheesy intimidation.’
Seeing the status window, Jinhyuk pulled the lever again.
As before, he did not make a selection.
Of course, there was a reason for this behavior.
Consider it a bug or perhaps manipulation of probability?
Hyuk had accidentally discovered a loophole in the system designed to fool players.
‘If you give up spinning the roulette 36 consecutive times, on the 37th turn, the speed of the roulette will decrease by 99.99%.’
As if viewing in slow motion, he simply had to wait for the roulette to reach the item he desired.
In fact, he used this method the night before to get Cheon Yuseong the item he wanted.
Only one thing.
There was the downside of having a one-week usage restriction on the item obtained this way.
Jinhyuk’s lips curled into a mischievous smile.
He could clearly see Cheon Yuseong freaking out after his attribute sword shattered in a week.
‘Slightly sorry, but it’s not like I lied, right?’
He certainly promised materials to complete an attribute sword but never promised it would be eternal.
Besides, at least for one week, Yuseong could enjoy his newly obtained attribute sword; it wasn’t a complete scam.
Yes, indeed.
As he nodded, the awaited 37th turn finally arrived, with the roulette slowing down enough to see which item it was pointing to.
Now.
Jinhyuk pressed the red button for the first time.
[You have selected the A-rank ‘Three-Color Pill’!]
Red, white, black.
Three pills appeared, each with different abilities.
For a week’s time and for the strategy of the next floor, this was the best choice.
Hyuk stored the pills carefully in a corner of his subspace inventory.
‘I can use the discount coupon for currency exchange when I upload a video that gets a lot of views later.’
That left one item.
The Great Magic Library Admission Ticket.
Skills from superior versions, lost ancient arts, barriers that only appear in the mid to upper floors of the Tower.
A transcendent library offering magical skills inaccessible to others was indeed exhilarating.
However, Jinhyuk had a tense look on his face.
It was because the library manager he was about to meet was quite a troublesome figure.
‘It has been a long time since I last saw that old geezer.’
The librarian (司書) managing the library was Rick Hennessey—a true old fox who had seen all kinds of shenanigans and owned the largest pawnshop in the Tower.
Jinhyuk often traded with him in the past and had given the old man a nickname—’Thanos.’
That’s because he always cut the price of items others brought in half while selling his items at double their value.
A trade method no less than miraculous.
Only someone with massive capital and unlimited items, who had nerve on his face, could afford such luxury.
However, this time it would be different.
‘It’s the first time you’ll meet me.’
‘I’ve met you before.’
It was different from when he had been harshly taken advantage of unknowingly in the past.
Now, he knew everything about his opponent.
Jinhyuk purchased a few items from the ‘Coin Exchange,’ then infused magic into the most important ticket of this bounty.
[The Great Magic Library has opened.]
Kukukukuku!
A gate with a surface flickering in green light appeared.
